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How to Thaw and Cook a Turkey

You can thaw a turkey, and cook it, all in the same day! (And it will taste delicious, I promise!) Here is the step-by-step.

1 12-15 pound turkey

1 stick of unsalted butter

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup dried Herbes de Provence

¼ cup fresh chopped parsley

handful of fresh thyme, destemmed

1 stem of rosemary, destemmed and chopped

2 lemons

twine

handful of whole fresh herbs like sage, rosemary or thyme

generous Kosher salt and pepper

Directions:

To thaw the turkey, place the bird in the largest pot you have (a clean paint can from the hardware store works great too!) and place in the skin directly under the faucet. Run the faucet on room temperature water, on the lowest pressure possible, until the water is circulating. Thaw for two hours. Remove the turkey from the water and pat dry. Place on a baking rack with the breast side up and separate the skin from the meat. In a small mixing bowl, combine softened (or melted) butter with the olive oil, Herbes de Provence, chopped parsley, destemmed thyme, chopped rosemary and salt and pepper. Stir until combined then pour half of the mixture under the skin, massaging so the butter mixture gets into every part of the breast. Then pour the remainder on the exterior of the turkey, making sure every part is covered. Season the entire outside and cavity with a generous sprinkle of salt and pepper. Place the lemons and the handful of additional fresh herbs into the cavity, wrap twine around the legs and tent the turkey with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 4 hours. Remove the foil and continue to cook for 20 minutes or until the top is brown. You can also put the broiler on for a minute, but don’t leave the kitchen or it can easily burn. Allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before carving.